davis funeral chapel (2024)

From the collections at the Leavenworth County Historical Societyand Museum. Reprinted with permission from The Leavenworth CountyHistorical Society and Museum and the Leavenworth Times. Donatedby Debra Graden.

James B. Davis arrived in Leavenworth determined to supportthe free-state cause of Kansas. It was the winter of 1855. Hewas among the leaders of 300 Immigrants coming from Crab Orchard,Ky.

Some settled in Leavenworth, others made their way to the OakMills community of northern Leavenworth County. Death was thefinal reality in the newly-formed territory, so Davis and hisson, Thaddeus, opened a manufacturing business Feb. 28 at 102Delaware. He specialized in making coffins.

The business of death in those days was conducted quite differentlythan today, the current owner of Davis Funeral Chapel said recently.
"I would image they started to work the minute they got here,"Davis Moulden explained. "People were dying all the timeback then and they needed someone to take care of them in a respectfulway."

J. B. Davis arrived in Leavenworth about six months after thetown was founded in May 1854. The first territorial census takenthe next year indicated the population of the newly formed citywas 8,061. Davis became a manufacturer and dealer of furniture,coffins and metallic burial cases. Advertisements from the timeboast of having "all sizes always on hand and furnished atthe shortest notice."

The undertaking business was often associated with the furniturebusiness in the early days of Kansas history. J. B. Davis andCo. also sold sewing machines by the time his business had movedto 410 Delaware.

Thaddeus Davis took up his father's business and assumed hisplace in the Leavenworth business community. He also was a closefriend of William "Buffalo Bill" Cody. He rememberedwhere Cody's father had been buried in the now abandoned MountAurora Cemetery.

When the famous showman would return to his boyhood home, heand Thaddeus would roam the Pilot Knob area searching for thelong-lost grave of Isaac Cody.

After the turn of the century, Thaddeus' son, James d. Davis,opened his own business in the 600 block of Shawnee. It was anothercold day in February when the Davis Funeral Chapel opened in 1909.The next year, James C. Davis purchased the present building at531 Shawnee.

This Davis was known at "Big Hearted" Jim. He wasa successful politician and served the city as mayor while thepresent city hall was constructed in the early 1920s.

"Jim Davis followed the golden rule platform in his campaignsfor mayor and in his business. That's the way it's been run eversince," his grandson says.

Moulden's earliest memories are of his grandfather. As a boy,he lived across the street from the funeral home. The proud grandfatherwould take his daughter's only child over to the funeral homeso he could be near him.

"I remember his funeral. When the big hearse drove bycity hall, they tolled the bell at the fire station for him,"Moulden said.

After this death, the responsiblity of operating the funeralhome fell to daughter, Margaret, and her husband, c. E. "Pete"Moulden.

"Margaret Moulden was a true lady," her daughter-in-law,Debbie Moulden, said. "She was a graduate of Stephens Collegeand taught school before she was married. She was a good personto work with and a good teacher. She never hurt anyone's feelingson purpose."

Debbie Moulden pointed to Margaret Moulden's community involvementsincluding being elected the first woman to serve on the LeavenworthWaterworks Board.

"Those early days for my parents were some hard times,"Moulden said. "That was the Depression and my parents livedin the castle across the street from the funeral home. They wouldhold wedding receptions and dinners in their home and do all thecatering."

By the time Moulden was 14 years old, he knew what his futurewould hold. He graduated in 1963 from the Commonwealth Collegeof Mortuary Sciences in Houston, Texas. He joined the businessas a licensed funeral director.

LeRoy Fevurly was a young man some 40 years ago when he startedworking for Davis Funeral Chapel. He became a licensed funeraldirector and embalmer upon graduation from the Kansas City Collegeof Mortuary Science.

Mrs. Moulden worked part-time during her early years of marriagewhile taking care of the couple's two daughters. During the past10 years, she has served as a full-time administrative assistant.

"We are the oldest continously family operated businessin Leavenworth," Moulden said. "I know we were the firstin town to operate an undertaking business and that probably makesus the first in the state, too. That's quite a lot to live upto.
"But we would not have been in business so long if we hadn'ttreated people right."